Two former employees of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office are suing the county in federal court. Former Nevada county Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Evans claims he was subjected to a hostile work environment and forced to retire; and his wife, Yvonne Davada Evans, who was a former accounting assistant in the Sheriff’s Department claims she was retalliated against after she complained of sexual harassment by then undersheriff Richard Kimball. Kerry Schaffer, the Santa Rosa based attorney who filed the suit, says the sexual harassment occurred just after Yvonne had divorced her then-husband, Keith Cantrell in 2008.

According to the complaint Yvonne Cantrell complained to her union steward about Kimball’s behavior. Not long after that Yvonne married Lt. Bill Evans and her ex husband Keith Cantrell calls the sheriff.

Sheriff Keith Royal says An investigation was launched and Yvonne Evans was eventually arrested and charged with four misdemeanor counts of withholding funds for the alleged theft of $13,000 in public funds .

The case went to trial but the charges against Yvonne Evans were dismissed when a judge ruled the filing was past the one year statute of limitations for misdemeanors.
The suit also asks for damages based on violations of the couple’s First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights. County Counsel will have 30 days to respond to the complaint.